In Another Life
by byebyebirdy
Summary: Because in another life, in a life with no war, no decaying universe, no complications between them, they would keep their promises, and it would be them against the world. And in the end, she would have told him what he meant to her, and he wouldn't let her be the one that got away. Red!Lincoln/Blue!Olivia.
1. Lucky To Have A Mother Like You

In Another Life

_Disclaimer: This is where I say something bluntly cool and witty about how I don't own Fringe. Telling you this shows how cool I'm not huh?_

_A/N: My first try at conquering the Fringe FanFic world. Amazing what happens when my ideas of a non-canon pairing take on a life of their own huh? Well, this is that life. I'm basically taking this wherever my muse goes, so bear with me for the duration of the first couple chapters. It's going to be intense. Secondly, everything up to __**3x09 "Marionette"**__ has happened, and this is going to start right before Olivia's breakdown, then take on a life of its own. So, let's see how insane and implausible this could get, shall we?_

x

She's wondering why the hell life is so cruel. Because honestly, there is no way in hell that this morphed, twisted version of insanity can be her life.

Plus, there is no way she is pregnant.

The entire notion that she, Olivia Dunham, could be freaking pregnant by Lincoln Lee of the alternate universe, is absolutely ludicrous. She refuses to entertain the idea that it could possibly, overwhelmingly be true.

But staring down at the pregnancy test, and the images that begin to flood her mind (Alt-Lincoln, her mind stolen from her, almost dying, him showing up on her doorstep, breathing heavily, a scared and frantic look in his eyes, those words… him naked, her naked, the countless nights after that…) everything in her mind vies for her attention, all of it coming to a head and overloading her brain, a sob escaping her mouth.

Big, gasping, soul crushing sobs rack through her body, and silent tears stream down her face. Her breath hitches and vaguely, she hears a voice in her head, telling her that this release of emotion, while healthy, won't help her baby.

Slowly, everything subsides, and the first thing she needs to do is talk to her doctor. Then Broyles. Then write a few letters for the team at the lab.

Because there is no way in any universe is she subjecting her child, to Fringe Science.

x

One hour and a doctor's visit all confirm that she is pregnant. The kicker? Her child's father is from an alternate universe and is probably wondering if those nights they shared, were actually products of her own feelings (Yes) or feelings of her counterparts (No).

It's a pretty complicated situation when you think about it.

But she still stands by her decision. She needs to leave the FBI and Fringe Division, if it means raising this child right, then she will abandoned everything she has ever known. How hard can it be?

x

Turns out, the conversation goes more smoothly then Olivia thought it would. The former agent expected a lecture, a screaming match, glares and dirty looks, but Broyles takes one look at the had curled protectively around her stomach, sighs and signs her forms officially ending her time at the FBI.

"Take care of that child Olivia. He or she is one of kind to have a mother like you." He murmurs.

The blonde woman smiles slightly, and nods before turning on her heal and leaving his office.

As she steps outside, her face warmed by the sun, Olivia feels at peace for the first time since she returned to her native universe.

For the first time everything feels as if it is falling to the right place.

x

_A/N: And here ends chapter one. I know it's a little short, but they should get longer as time goes on. Reviews make me happy, so let's keep em coming shall we?_


	2. My Little Defender

In Another Life

_Disclaimer: This is where I say something bluntly cool and witty about how I don't own Fringe. Telling you this shows how cool I'm not huh?_

_A/N: So, here we are again, and we have two reviews! And for that I'd like to thank _helikesitheymikey & fringebaby. _ I was really surprised to be honest, and _helikesitheymikey _pointed out some plotholes I had, so thank you. I didn't think that there really is too many shippers of Red!Linc and Blue!Liv… but hey! I was proved wrong! Now for this chapter, its going to have all of Olivia's pregnancy in one chapter so we can move on to the Linc/Liv parts. Now let's continue on with this crazy train shall we?_

x  
_First Trimester_

It's in the dark of the night when she thinks of the countless nights they spent tangled up in sheets and limbs.

It's when her hand strays over her growing stomach, when Olivia is woken by morning sickness (which she is convinced needs to be renamed pregnancy sickness), or when she wakes up with ice cold tears falling down her face and staining her pillow case.

It is in those when she thinks of Lincoln. She thinks of the subtle stubble the laces his jaw, the sparkle in his eyes, the ear cuff, the spikey hair that could only be achieved by more product then was needed… it's in those moments where she misses him most.

By all counts, the first trimester of the ex-FBI agent's pregnancy is the hardest to get through. With her missing Lincoln, everything to do with the pregnancy, her departure from Fringe, not to mention what the heck Massive Dynamic or even Walternate would do if they got wind of her child. One parent from an alternate universe, the other experimented on as a child and now has super powers that could potentially imprint on the child?

Not a good thing, and she should probably move out of her self-imposed exile and speak to Walter about those implications. Yet, through all the swirling and consuming thoughts of what could potentially happen to her baby, Olivia also thinks of normal, human, pregnancy things.

Like names or whether she's carrying a boy or girl. Or twins or triplets.

Or maybe just one perfect little child she could treasure forever and ever.

Everything swarms in her brain and vies for attention, and add to the fact how she's beginning to miss working with Peter, drinking milkshakes with Walter and re-organizing the lab with Astrid, Olivia knows that all these thoughts and the stress that they are inducing can't be good for her child.

So she stops. She stops thinking about Walter and Astrid and even Peter. She goes shopping for maternity clothes, looks at baby clothes, she even dyes her a shade darker and cuts it. She thinks of potential names, and looks up the meanings, (she's determined for baby's name to mean something to world(s) she will be a part of), and most of all, she celebrates the milestones of being pregnant.

A part of her realises that all this change and re-arranging of her life, is probably hindering the ache of losing everything near and dear to her rather than helping it. But a part of her, a part still stuck in the alternate universe refusing to let go and move on, whispers to her "_It's better to have loved then lost_", the other part of brain, firmly committed to raising her child and letting go of the past tells her "_Why love is losing hurts so much_?".

All in all Olivia decides her brain is a traitor and knows nothing, and that when she brings this child into this world, it will be free of the damages of Fringe Science, bad choices, resentment and bitter hatred that a son feels for his father, and the ever consuming guilt of never knowing who you really are.

x  
_Second Trimester_

The first time the baby moves, Olivia gives in to the ache for her former family and calls Astrid.

"Hey Peter, so I haven't gotten anything on any databases, but I think Broyles may know where Liv could be..." The junior agents voice rings thorough the phone.

"It's me. Uh, Olivia." She whispers back.

"Olivia? Oh my gosh, are you okay? Where are you? We've been so worried, Walter thinks it was him that made you leave, and Peter oh god Peter, hey uh, is something wrong? I mean it has to be big to call me…" Astrid's voice, while frantic, has the obvious markers of relief laced through it.

"Uh no, um I mean, besides being pregnant, uh, look can you just come my place? I have some news."

"Wait pregnant?" Astrid exclaims. "Olivia, the Cortexiphan, could potentially hurt your baby, god Liv you have to let Walter be there for the birth, and…"

"Yeah, look I know there's a lot to sort out, trust me. I know, but I think its best we talk this face to face. Come over in 15." Olivia says.

"Uh, yes, course. Gimme a sec to tell Peter he needs to look after Walter, and uh, I'll be right over okay?" Astrid rambles.

"Okay." Olivia murmurs before hanging up.

For the whole time the blonde waits for Astrid to show up, she paces her apartment floor, runs her hands through her hair and freaks out. Maybe telling Astrid was wrong, maybe exposing her child to even one part of the Fringe world is dangerous, maybe… maybe she should run and try and find a way back to the other universe and tell Linc and live with him in safety and warmth for as long as she can.

But before Olivia can even entertain the implications of the idea, knocking sounds on her door, signalling Astrid's arrival.

Sure enough, once the door opens, the women embrace.

"I'm glad you're alright Liv. And I'm really glad you called me. Walter needs to be there for your birth and make sure that the baby will be okay, and god Olivia, we were so worried about you!" Astrid cries.

Olivia takes a deep breath and nods. "I-I know, my leaving was stupid, and wrong and could have been done a million different ways, but I didn't want to subject my baby to Fringe. I mean, I have super powers, what mother can say that?" Olivia laughs nervously, and runs a hand through her hair. "But the thing is, uh, the baby, is kicking. " Olivia, takes one of her hands, and places it on her stomach. "Just wait."

Sure enough, Astrid gasps, tears pool in her eyes, and delighted smile plasters itself to her face. "That's… that's.. she, he, kicking."

Olivia nods and grins at the junior agent. "Yeah."

And even though there are doubts, questions, problems and everything in between them, it was a beautiful moment.

x  
_Third Trimester_

She never expected to give birth like this.

Olivia, never in her wildest dreams, never expected to give birth in the Fringe lab, screaming and writhing on floor, clutching both Peter's and Astrid's hands while Walter tells her to push.

Seventeen hours, six minutes and twenty five seconds later, her screaming little girl comes into the world, at the heart of Fringe Science. And, as Olivia gasps into Peter's shoulder while Astrid places a cool towel over her head, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Thank you. Really." Olivia rasps. "I know we have had… issues, but I'm glad you were here."

And then, before Peter can respond, and before Astrid can kiss her her forehead and tell her that she is her best friend, Walter walks in, her girl in his arms, and is placing her in the blonde woman's arms.

"What shall you call her dear?" Walter murmurs.

Then Olivia remembers a conversation between her and Lincoln in the middle of the night.

"_If you had a girl, what'd you call her?" Liv frowns at Linc._

"_Probably Alexis… means defender and well, I always liked the idea of calling a child, my little defender.."_

Those moments feel like a lifetime ago, but now Olivia finds that, the ache within her heart, hurts just a little less.

"Alexis. My little defender."

_A/N: And here ends chapter two! Did you guys like it? Reviews and such?_


	3. Ready To Deal

In Another Life

_Disclaimer: This is where I say something bluntly cool and witty about how I don't own Fringe. Telling you this shows how cool I'm not huh?_

_A/N: Here we are! Four reviews! YAY! Thanks to _Fringetreeart,_ and once again, _helikesitheymikey_, for pointing out the huge issues in my plot, I don't know where I would be without your wisdom and guidance. This chapter will be Olivia in our universe again, and her Cortexiphan powers will show up, and in her daughter's as well. The meaning of Alexis' middle name means, "Hero's daughter", and it was so accurate, I couldn't help but include it her name. Now right before we start, this chapter is going to be spilt into two parts. One part will take place directly after the last chapter. The second half with be six months later, setting us up for the bridge episode, and the meeting between Linc/Liv. If that sounds as confusing as I think it does, drop me a PM and I'll try my best to explain it to you. Once again , thanks to _helikesitheymikey _for the help I received with this little part. On with the story!_

x  
_Alexis' Age: A few weeks_

She likes watching her best. Watching her sleep, watching her play, watching her eat… Olivia just likes watching her.

Alexis Ingrid Dunham-Lee is exactly like her mother, blonde hair, perfect nose, kissable lips… everything is exactly like her mother… except her eyes. Her eyes belong solely to her father… and probably the only part that Olivia can identify as Lincoln in her baby.

She's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet.

But something is niggling at the back of her mind. Something big, something catastrophic, something that will change both her and her little girl's life forever. So naturally, when Astrid calls her, a frantic Walter yelling at her to get to the lab in the background, her mind once again revisits the idea of jumping to the other universe, locating Lincoln and living with him.

But once her eyes catch sight of her baby girls bright, sparkling eyes, her mind shuts the idea down in an instant. Because she couldn't do that to her child, and as much as Alexis _deserves_ a father, she can't possibly do that to her.

She takes her to the lab, what other choice does she have?

x

Within minutes, her world comes crashing down. All because of a damn DNA test, a complicated drug, past abuse and stolen generations.

Damn Cortexiphan. Damn William Bell, damn everything that ruined her childhood.

"So, you're telling me, the Cortexiphan on my bloodstream, imprinted, on Alexis, and has given her my powers, a telepathic link to my mind, and is going to speed up her growing process?" Olivia exclaims, before falling into a chair and putting her heads in her hands.

"Well, it's more complicated than that of course, but essentially yes. Her proportions are already growing, from just simply being in contact with a watered down version of the drug, and then simply being around another test subject, is just speeding everything up. My theory is that, the drug has grown, to suit the needs of each subject. And in little Alexis, her body is focused on growing up, so naturally that's what the drug is doing. Simply, moving her body's basic function along." Walter explains, pacing around the lab. "Quite fascinating really."

The blonde presses the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying in vain to block out the world of Fringe and what it is doing to her child. When she first fell pregnant, all she wanted was to create the right kind of life for her child. That changed with her birth on the floor of a lab in Harvard. Then, all she wanted was for her daughter to grow up right, with a mother, who loved her, a father who would go the ends of the earth to protect her and a family who would do anything for her. That changed with the news about the Cortexiphan in her system.

Everything is changing and Olivia doesn't know if she can handle anything else.

"Okay so what? She's going to grow so fast that she'll be a teenager before she's even had the chance to live her life out?"

"Yes." Walter replies simply.

"Alright. Guess she'll home-schooled for a while then." Olivia cracks a wry smile, and feels just a little bit lighter.

For now, her daughter's life isn't perfect; it isn't what she wanted or what she needed. But it is what she deserves.

x  
_6 Months Later  
Alexis' Age: 15 years old_

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Olivia frowns as she stands staring at The Machine. "Why we are potentially opening a bubble between universes, and opening ourselves up to attack?"

"Because, their world needs fixing, and so does ours." Peter says, flashing her a dazzling smile. "You always were too much of soldier."

"I just think that there's another way!" Olivia exclaims.

"But there's not." Lincoln says from behind her.

Turning her head to face her new partner, she is once again struck by the similarities between him and his double. She once again remembers explain Alexis to him, explaining how they look so similar, how she could, _would_, pass as his child. She remembers how he then become one of her best partners she's ever had.

"Yes, I know that. But… I mean what if they attack us, or…or…" The blonde exclaims.

"Are you done grasping at straws? Peter questions. "Because there is no way that we can predict it, but they want to fix their world as much as we do. And we have to take a little faith. But… that's not all that is bugging you is it Liv?" Peter says, knowingly.

"I-I just, don't want this to back fire on Lex. She's already dealing with suddenly being a kid, and now a teenager and we only just found out the Cortexiphan is slowing down… this, knowing her father is a bubble away, would kill her."

"She's tougher then she looks Liv." Peter murmurs.

"And she's got you for a mother. Nothing will happen to her." Lincoln adds.

The blonde sighs, before nodding.

"Okay, let's do this shit." Olivia smirks. "Now people! We have worlds to fix, lives to save and a daughter to keep away from here. Let's go."

Her hands push Peter in his back towards the machine, and she effectively tunes out his wines of protest at being manhandled, and Lincoln's laugh. When they reach the few steps leading up to the machine, every expression in the room sobers, and the playfulness fades from their eyes.

"You better come back. Alexis needs you, Walter needs you, hell, I need you. Because there is no way in hell I can manage Fringe, a daughter and Walter all on my own okay?" Olivia says, tears pooling in her eyes. "So come back. Because we need you."

"Okay." Peter returns.

And just like that, the world they know changes, spins on it axis, shifts sideways, and brings the others from the other side here, to this room. To neutral ground, to a bubble, to a gap in-between, to an echo of both worlds.

The machine release Peter, and Olivia runs over to him, the words "You okay?" flying out her mouth. She's knows Lincoln is here, she can feel that he is here, but she has more important things to fix before she meet the cause of sleepless nights.

"I'll be fine." Peter coughs.

"Liar." Olivia smirks. "One thing you suck at."

"Hey, I fooled you for a while didn't…" The end of his words end in a cough and him gasping for breath, not a good sign.

"New rule, no more talking." She scolds.

Eventually, once she gets Peter to seat, and checks him for any more injuries, the voices and arguments of the doubles flits over to her and the man who has become a surrogate father to her daughter.

"You're going to have to talk to them you know." Peter murmurs. "That thing, it...it'll need eyes on it. Eyes that can control it."

Taking a deep breath Olivia nods. "You'll be fine right?" The two of them can detect the double meaning in her words. She needs reassurance she will survive this, survive seeing the alternate Lincoln again and survive dealing with two Lincoln's, two Olivia's, Two Walter's and two Astrid's.

"I'll be fine." Peter whispers.

Stealing her emotions, Olivia walks over to the group of screaming people, ready to jump in.

Ready to play the cards she's been dealt, ready to introduce her child to father, ready to see her Linc again, just… ready to be again.

"Mum, what the hell is going on here?" Alexis yells over the rest of the voices.

Too bad she doesn't get that chance.

x

_A/N: What an ending huh? Even I surprised myself with that ending. But really, it was about time Alexis got her shit together and popped up. So, leave a review and let me know what you though okay? x_


End file.
